Sunday, November 25, 2012

Work in progress-experiments in art

I guess I am a bit scatter brained, but I like to have many things going on at once. Its nice to experiment too, of course not all of the experiments work! Sure, everyone knows I like to draw super detailed pen drawings and have been doing that literally for at least 40 years, but I also like to do some color works. Of course, because I like ink so much, I seem to have the need to include it in my paintings as well. I actually first started drawing this way as a kid with ink or pen mixed with different types of color such as pastel or watercolor.  Times really have not changed that much I guess, because I still love experimenting with different on different surfaces to see what happens.

As you can see in the above image, I have lots of things going on at once. Some of them I started years ago, and come back to just in case. The problem is that I apply paint, ink, or whatever to different surfaces in often completely random ways. Sometimes this works, sometimes not. 


A view of the top of one of my drawing tables with scattered works in progress. I like to try a variety of surfaces in addition to different media. The greenish image on the left is watercolor on illustration board, beneath that is watercolor on bristol paper with a vellum finish mounted on illustration board, the  small blue one is ink and spray paint on clay coated masonite, the larger blue/green one just below that is colored ink on illustration board, and the large yellow and brown image below everything is colored ink on primed birch plywood.  


Stuff on my other table. The three green pieces are all colored ink and pen on birch plywood (primed white).  Originally, they were all on the same board, which I painted at one time, then cut into pieces. 


Top left, watercolor and pen on clayboard and bottom, watercolor and ink on illustration board. 



The weird blue maybe to become jelly fish type creatures were painted with acrylic paint on birch. This is 2 X 2 feet. I will add layers and detail. It will take a while, then probably more detail with a pen. I am happy that my Rapidograph pens work for this. Disposable pens such as those made by Micron don't work so well, as the ink takes longer to dry and is easily smeared. 


Watercolor and ink on watercolor paper (heavy paper). I probably started this about 10 years ago. 


Watercolor on clay board 


Watercolor on illustration board. 


Acrylic paint and ink on birch


detail of above work (in progress)


another detail


watercolor and ink on illustration board


Acrylic on black matte board. I seem to really like fish-like creatures. 



drawers with old experiments. Some of these got too dark! Part of the fun of doing art for me, if you want to call it art, is figuring how to make something interesting out of the mess that I start with. Its like a weird puzzle. 


Another shot of "something to think about". 


This is a photo of a cool base of a tree. Looks kind of like a fist, or a weird face. Could be fodder for a weird drawing one day!



Inquisitive Fish Painting/Drawing finished

Just finished up another mixed media acrylic and pen painting/drawing deal. First primed some smooth birch plywood, then did the painting. Added detail with a Rapidograph later. Not sure whether to call these drawings or paintings??  Decided to call this one "Inquisitive Fish".  It is 16 X 16 inches.

"Inquisitive Fish", Acrylic and Pen on Birch, 16 X 16 inches, 2012. 

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Mayan Awakening

Well, I finally seem to be getting back in the swing of things artwise. Somehow making some time to do some artwork. Lots of things started in the studio, with most of them being mixed media with pen for detail. Just finished one up, which I called Mayan Awakening. I was working on this for quite some time. Its only about 14 X 24 inches, but pretty detailed. Done with multiple washes of colored ink, then with lots of detail with a Raphidograph pen. I love this stuff.


Look for more updates soon. Just about finished with a trippy fish painting...